Severable seam boots



July 24, 1956 w. s. HARRISON SEVERABLE SEAM BOOTS Filed Nov. 1?, 1952 INVENTOR. W/zz/AM 5. A/AEE/SOA/ SEVERABLE SEAM BOOTS William S. Harrison, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada Application November 17, 1952, Serial No. 320,930

2 Claims. (Cl. 364) The present invention pertains to a boot construction and particularly to the structure of a boot having an upper portion which extends a considerable distance up the leg such as to a location above the calf of the leg or higher. More especially such boot construction incorporates a seam capable of being severed readily, which seam extends lengthwise of the upper portion of the boot and preferably along its back.

High boots used for wading purposes usually are made of rubber material, although leather boots are used in some instances. In order to reduce as far as possible the possibility of a rubber boot leaking, it is customary not to provide an opening in the boot except at the top, and the wearer simply slips his foot down through the upper or leg portion into the foot portion.

One wearing rubber boots for wading purposes frequently walks on a muddy bottom, and when the foot portion of such a boot sinks appreciably into the mud a strong suction force is exerted on it. To prevent the foot from being pulled out of the boot inadvertently under such circumstances it is necessary for the leg and foot portion to fit reasonably snugly and consequently such boots are designed so that they are not easy either to put on or to remove. Especially is removal of such a boot diflicult when the leg and foot are damp from sweat or slight leakage of the boot. When used for wading in deep water the pressure of the water on the boot also increases the difficulty of its removal.

When boots are being worn for wading in rather deep water, the wearer can encounter any of various situations which make it extremely desirable to remove the boot quickly. In murky water the wearer may suddenly step into a hole or off a shelf, simultaneously losing his balance and necessitating swimming. In a large body of water when waves are present the undertow between waves may cause the wearer to lose his balance and be swept into deep water. Soft mud or quicksand may be encountered unexpectedly. Without warning the wearer may step into a swift current zone. The situation may be aggravated if the wearer should encounter two or more of such unexpected conditions substantially simultaneously.

To remove a rubber boot of conventional type in any such emergency is virtually impossible because two hands would be required to grasp the boot and ordinarily the leg from which the boot is to be removed must be crossed in front of the other one. The hands thus occupied cannot be used for swimming, nor can the leg from which the boot is being removed be used for swimming. Even if the boot could be freed from footing which may be holding it, therefore, it is still very unlikely that the boot could be removed even by an expert swimmer, and the less expert the wearer is, the more important it is for the boots to be taken off in the event of an unexpected emergency such as mentioned above.

it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a boot construction which, while being fully as waterproof as the usual rubber boot construction, will be atent t il-tented July 24, 1956 capable of being removed quickly and easily by a wearer in the event of emergency.

It is a further object to provide such a boot structure which can be manufactured virtually as readily as a conventional boot, which can be put on and taken off ordinarily in the usual way, and which can be used in the same manner as prior boot structures. Moreover, the modified structure will not be appreciably more expensive to make.

Quick and easy removal of a boot, and particularly of a rubber boot, may be accomplished by opening a vertical seam in the boot upper, and particularly a seam which extends from substantially the center of the cavity for re ceiving the protuberance of the heel to and through the top edge of the boot so as to lay open the entire upper portion of the boot. Such a seam may be severed by incorporating in it a ripping wire which, when pulled, will rupture the joint covering material progressively from one end of the seam to the other to separate the joined edges.

The particular boot structure preferred, as illustrated in the drawings, is described in detail below.

Figure l is a top perspective view of a boot incorporating the severable joint structure as it would appear for normal use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section through a portion of the boot revealing the joint construction, and Figure 3 is a transverse section through a fragmentary portion of the boot incorporating the joint.

Figure 4 is a top perspective view of the boot similar to Figure 1, showing the seam in the process of being severed, as it would be in the case of an emergency.

As has been discussed above, ordinarily it is necessary for both hands to be used to remove a boot, and the leg from which the boot is being removed is crossed in front of the other leg. Where a boot becomes mired so that it cannot be moved to enable one leg to be thus crossed over the other, a very difiicult boot removal problem is presented even if two hands are available. If the boot is free but the wearer is swimming, both crossing of one leg over the other and utilization of both hands are very awkward. In designing a severable seam boot upper construction, therefore, an effort should be made to avoid the necessity of the leg or foot being moved into awkward positions.

If the entire boot upper covering the ankle and leg at least above the protuberance of the heel were removed, the foot could readily be withdrawn rearwardly from the foot portion covering the toes and instep. The confining effect of the boot upper can be eliminated by ripping open the calf portion from heel to top preferably by severing a seam extending up the back of the upper.

A less desirable alternative for eliminating the confining character of the boot upper would be to rip open the toe, instep and shin portion of the boot from toe to top, so that the foot and leg could be lifted upwardly and forwardly. Such an expedient would be less desirable because the length of the rip would be longer and would be much more difficult to effect. It is not customary for a seam to extend from the toe portion to the top of the upper so that, if the separation were accomplished by a severable seam, it would be necessary to add such a seam, and further if the foot were buried it would be more difficult to raise the toe for maximum accessibility to the wearers hand than it would be to raise the heel somewhat.

For the reasons discussed, therefore, it is preferred that the ripping location be from the heel to the top of the boot upper, upwardly along the calf portion, and it is further preferred that such ripping be accomplished by severing a joint. It will, however, be evident that a ripping arrangement separate from a joint might be provided at such location, and, alternatively, a severable joint of the preferred type could be incorporated in the toe, instep and shin portions of the boot, from toe to top, or such a seam could be provided both at the back and at the front of the boot.

The boot 1 of Figure l is shown as having an upper extending upward substantially to the calf of the leg. Normally such a boot would be made of rubber material, would not have a joint which could be separated to facilitate application or removal of the boot, but would be fabricated with a seam extending up the back from heel to top. This seam is formed by bringing close to each other the sheet edge portions 11 and 12 and securing them together by a strip of rubber material 13, vulcanized to both of the adjacent edge portions 11 and 12 as shown in Figure 3. The entire upper portion of the boot including the toe covering portion 14 is also suitably vulcanized or otherwise bonded to the sole portion 14 and heel portion 16. The upper edge of the boot is then finished by a binding strip 17 folded over the upper edge and vulcanized or otherwise bonded in place.

In order to sever quickly and easily the seam or joint extending up the back of the boot, a ripping member or rupturing element is incorporated in such joint, preferably in the form of fine piano wire 18 received between the adjacent sheet edges 11 and 12 of the upper and embedded behind the joining strip 13, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The rupturing element is thus located outwardly of the inner surfaces of the sheet edge portions 11 and 12 and is independent of such edge portions. If one end of this wire is anchored and the other end pulled lengthwise of the seam, the joining or cover strip 13 will be ripped apart, and because of the inclusion of the wire between the adjacent edges 11 and 12 there will be little if any adhesion between them to prevent the joint from separating completely.

It would be difiicult to grasp the plain end of such a wire; consequently its end is provided with a grip, such as being formed as a loop 19 through which a couple of fingers of the wearers hand may be inserted. If the fingers exerted substantial strain on even such a loop, the wire would tend to cut into the fingers unnecessarily, and consequently the wire loop 19 is received between and covered by looped strips 20 and 21 secured in face to face relationship.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the covered wire loop 19 preferably is located adjacent to the heel receiving cavity of the boot, as shown in Figure 2 being below the center of such cavity. Above this point the wire 13 lies inside of or behind the cover strip 13 as shown in Figure 3, and at such point extends through such strip and the wire is then folded back on itself and anchored by securing it between the strips 20 and 21 which may be vulcanized together. The ends of these strips may then be bonded lightly to the cover strip 13 so that the loop normally will be unobtrusive.

By locating the ripping member grip adjacent to the heel the wearer, even when swimming, may readily kick his foot back in a position such that the fingers can easily be inserted into the loop, and when the leg is straightened the loop cover strips 20 and 21 will be torn from the cover strip 13 as shown in Figure 4, and continued straightening of the leg and pulling on the wire loop will cause the wire to rip the seam open in the manner shown. The upper end of the wire will be extended around the upper edge of the boot so that it will be entirely severed. The ends of the binding strip 17 may merely extend sufficiently close together so that the end of the cover strip 13 will cover them.

While the ripping member has been described as incorporated in a severable seam, and this is the preferred construction, so that there will be no projection whatever made by it on the inner surface of the boot upper, such a wire or equivalent ripping element could be applied to the inner surface of the upper sheet if there were no seam. In that event the ends of the loop covering strips 20 and 21 would be bonded lightly to the exterior surface of the boot upper and embrace the end of the wire passing through the boot wall. The bonding of the loop covering strip end would completely seal such hole. As the loop is grasped and pulled where such a construction is employed, it would actually part the sheet wall of the upper instead of a seam cover strip. The effect, however, would be the same, namely to tear an opening in the boot upper substantially throughout its complete vertical length, and preferably at the back, for the reasons discussed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A rubber boot comprising an upper of sheet material including two upright edge portions extending along the back of said upper from the heel to the upper edge of said upper and disposed substantially in edgewise abutment but spaced apart slightly, a joining strip bridging between said edge portions, bonded to their exterior surfaces, and constituting the sole element joining and forming a waterproof joint between said edge portions, a ripping wire extending from the upper edge of said upper downwardly along its back at least substantially to the center of the cavity for receiving the protuberance of the foot heel, received between said edge portions, disposed inwardly of said joining strip, having its upper end secured to the upper edge of the boot and having its lower end passing through the outer surface of said joining strip, said lower end being operable to be drawn upward for ripping open such waterproof joint between said edge portions from at least substantially the center of the cavity for receiving the protuberance of the foot heel to and through the upper edge of said upper and having a gripping loop exteriorly of said joining strip adjacent to the boot heel, and a cover strip covering said gripping loop for engagement by a finger of the wearer to exert an upward pull on the lower end of said ripping wire.

2. A rubber boot comprising an upper of sheet material including two upright edge portions extending along the back of said upper from the heel to the upper edge of said upper and disposed in adjacent relationship but unattached, a joining strip overlapping said edge portions, bonded to their exterior surfaces, constituting the sole element joining said edge portions and forming a waterproof joint at the rear of the boot and, an elongated joint rupturing element incorporated in said joint independently of said edge portions and outwardly of the inner surfaces of said dege portions, extending from the upper edge of said upper downwardly along its back at least substantially to the heel portion of said upper, secured to the boot at least at its upper end and having its lower end passing through the outer surface of said joining strip, said lower end being operable to be drawn upward for opening such waterproof joint between said edge portions from at least substantially the cavity for receiving the protuberance of the foot heel to and through the upper edge of said upper and having a grip exteriorly of said joining strip adjacent to the boot heel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 125,400 Lawson Apr. 9, 1872 856,964 Lee June 11, 1907 1,399,436 Little Dec. 6, 1921 1,532,432 Morse Apr. 7, 1925 2,159,816 Murphy May 23, 1939 2,331,204 Lehmer Oct. 5, 1943 2,472,987 Rizzo June 14, 1949 2,654,964 Stoll Oct. 13, 1953 

